Abstract
This chapter presents a case study conducted among the young people taking part in a Swedish social movement. The case study has been realised between 2016 and 2017 through participant observations and biographical interviews with the young activists and analyses the process of bottom-up politicisation of a neighbourhood through which the young activists are creating a “union of citizens”. The analysis of the collected data discusses how young activists seek to win back a power of self-definition and self-determination through a series of projects which, starting from the solution of a specific difficulty concerning the access to housing, entail big ambitions of societal transformation. In so doing, they attempt to abandon the role of “claimants” in relation to institutions.
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- 1.
The title of this chapter “What do we want? We want everything!” refers to a motto used by the Italian students during the demonstration occurred all over the country in 1968 and 1977.
- 2.
According to the last figures released by the Stockholm’s Housing Agency (2017), only in Stockholm half a million of people are enrolled in the public waiting lists. Due to the housing shortage, it could take up to 50 years to earn a standard first-hand contract.
- 3.
The research has been conducted within the project Youthblocs, which focuses on the involvement of young people in “radical” forms of unconventional political participation in Italy and Sweden and on the influence of intergenerational relationships on their paths of political involvement. Youthblocs receives funds from the European Commission through the Horizon 2020—Marie Sklodowska Curie Programme (MSCA – IF – 2015 – Grant Agreement n. 701844).
- 4.
The names of the city, the neighbourhood, the social movement and the activists have been changed to safeguard participants’ privacy. The fictitious names are borrowed from the famous saga “A song of ice and fire” of G. R. R. Martin.
- 5.
Despite the many changes occurred on an economic and demographic level in the last 20 years, it is worth to specify that the local labour market continues to perform poorly in comparison with that of other areas of the country (Scarpa 2013). The median income of the local population is, in fact, among the lowest in Sweden, and the rate of social assistance receipt is still among the highest in the country (Scarpa 2013).
- 6.
Concerning the power of mobilisation of the group, it is worth mentioning, for example, that in March 2016, the group was the main actor involved in the organisation of the largest demonstration ever realised in Winterfell. The demonstration took place in the Weirwood neighbourhood and involved the participation of about 10,000 people who joined the event to protest against a nazi-fascist attack occurred one week before and provoking serious injuries to some members of the group.
- 7.
In total, about 200 hours of observation have been conducted between February and June 2017.
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Pitti, I. (2018). “What Do We Want? We Want Everything!”: Young Swedish Activists and the “Union of Citizens”. In: Youth and Unconventional Political Engagement. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75591-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75591-5_4
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